April 2 2025
Unframing Democracy:
How Art and AR Reconnect Europe’s Youth with Politics
When the Gallery Becomes the Ballot Box
Guest Anastasia Lemberg-Lvova from De Structura Interviewer Siyu Han & Yuyi Xiong from DART Magazine
De Structura Forum I. Image Courtesy of De Structura
Why are so many young people turning away from traditional political institutions and instead resonating with voices from groups like France's Rassemblement National and Germany's AFD? And in a world where bureaucracy often fails to connect with the next generation, could art and technology—especially tools like Augmented Reality—offer a new language for civic engagement?
In response to these questions, the "Unframed" project was launched. This innovative initiative employs art and technology, especially Augmented Reality (AR), aiming to renew young people's interest and participation in democratic topics. The project is organized by the De Structura platform, dedicated to addressing structural challenges in the European art scene, particularly issues affecting young artists.
France's Rassemblement National and Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AFD) have significantly grown in influence recently. They've effectively utilized popular social media platforms among youth, adopting innovative communication strategies to rapidly build a young supporter base, altering Europe's political landscape.
To gain deeper insights into how the "Unframed" project addresses these challenges,Yuyi Xiong and Siyu Han interviewed the project's founder, who shared with us the project's concept, strategies, and future plans.
Today's Youth and Politics
Why Are Young People Listening to the Voice from Institutions such as AFD and Rassemblement National, Instead of Traditional Political Institutions?
“ I don't think young people are disengaged; they're distracted by groups skilled at manipulating them. Parties like Rassemblement National effectively use TikTok to resonate with youth, while traditional political institutions remain rigid and outdated.
“European institutions' communication efforts feel insincere and fail to engage young audiences—not due to lack of talent, but because bureaucratic constraints limit creativity. As a result, political circles struggle to genuinely connect with youth, while parties like AFD and Rassemblement National thrive online.” （*paraphrased account of the founder’s comments）
The Birth of De Structura
How did De Structura build an innovative platform to support young artists by addressing widespread structural issues in the art industry, such as precarious employment, lack of social security, and elitism?
“This project (Unframed) emerged from my experience as an artist, recognizing severe structural issues unique to the art sector—particularly the difficulty of making a sustainable living as an artist in Europe. Leveraging my previous event-organizing experience both inside and outside the art world, I founded De Structura to address these challenges.
Conversations with team members confirmed that emerging artists across Europe face similar problems: precarious employment, unclear compensation, project-based work without social security, and elitism.
Recognizing these common challenges, our platform focuses on capacity-building, knowledge sharing, and supporting emerging art professionals across Europe, including through initiatives like the De Structura Forum in 2025.” （*paraphrased account of the founder’s comments）
Founder of De Structura, Anastasia Lemberg - Lvova. Image Courtesy of De Structura
The Medium Is the Message
Why Can AR Exhibitions Help Young People Understand Politics More Deeply Than Policy Documents?
“We began working with Augmented Reality (AR) in 2022 during the De Structura Forum, where we aimed to showcase the work of 100 young art professionals from across Europe and Estonia. Due to logistical and budgetary constraints, we partnered with teams specializing in AR.
This technology allowed us to bypass traditional barriers like venue, transport, and cost, enabling us to exhibit all the works simultaneously in Tallinn. That experience marked the beginning of our ongoing exploration of AR as a medium.
For younger audiences—including myself—using digital devices feels completely intuitive. In our exhibitions, older visitors often seemed confused, while teenagers quickly grasped how to interact and even expressed how much they enjoyed the experience.
This intuitive engagement, paired with a basic understanding of how institutions shape everyday life, helps viewers mentally connect political structures with personal experience. By pairing contemporary artworks on relevant social issues with the legislation behind them, we offer a more resonant and impactful experience than conferences or written texts.”（*paraphrased account of the founder’s comments）
Art Meets Legislation
What are the key artistic and conceptual criteria for selecting artworks?
“We first explored the legislative observatory that provides access to all European Parliament legislative documents. And there we selected 15 specific documents and then conceptualized them into themes that are prevalent in contemporary art.
We had 15 to begin with to explore a wider variety of ideas, and there was always going to be 10 ending up in the final exhibition. De Structura works with young emerging artists in Europe, and that was the target group at the outset when we were founded.
And these are the people that we aim to support with our work. These are the people who have also responded to the open call.”
De Structura Forum I. Image Courtesy of De Structura
De Structura Forum I. Image Courtesy of De Structura
Diversity Without Division
Have any cultural or political differences presented unexpected challenges in the curation process?
“We haven't had any issues. It was very clear from the start that we have certain topics that the exhibition will tackle. Those topics will be paired with artworks by emerging artists, and those artworks were submitted through an open call.
Our curator, Flóra Gadó, is currently working on the most engaging way to follow the exhibition for the viewer. But the parameters were always set. And there was no difficulty curating the artworks that corresponded to relevant European topics.”
Beyond the Frame
In what ways is the 'Unframed' shaping future initiatives that operate at the intersection of art, technology, and political engagement?
“Using augmented reality for all sorts of innovative exhibitions and inclusive exhibitions is an option to bypass a lot of barriers and a lot of typical barriers that are faced by people.
Monetary, structural- there are lots of barriers to ever be exhibited because it's costly and because you need to have connections.
Augmented reality offers a new way to play around with different installations and different options of going about your physical elements in the exhibition and simultaneously showcasing a lot of work that is not ordinarily easy to fit into a gallery room. So in our exhibition there's going to be video, 3D works, digital works, regular or rather classical 2D works, paintings, and so on.
Using AR allows for a mixture of different art mediums that are prevalent in contemporary art today, and it also democratizes access to exhibition opportunities.”
De Structura Forum I. Image Courtesy of De Structura
Exploring Unframed reveals that the future of political engagement may not emerge from louder speeches or flashier campaigns but from quieter, more imaginative spaces. In these augmented landscapes, art and technology don’t just coexist—they collaborate. They translate policies into emotion, and systems into stories. It becomes a kind of soft rebellion, where creative expression steps in to do what political language no longer can.
If politics continues to speak in the language of bureaucracy, who will teach it to see again? And what might happen when art becomes the civic vocabulary we’ve been waiting for?
Guest Anastasia Lemberg-Lvova Interviewer Siyu Han & Yuyi Xiong
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